Posts tagged “pizza”

Encouraged by the abundance of Kale on the menus of New York restaurants these days, I thought it would be great to share this recipe with you. It’s from a shoot I did with my friend Paul Lowe, also known as Sweet Paul, and if you know me by now, you’ll know I’m a big fan of his work. There is nothing better than homemade pizza. Even if you don’t want to make the dough yourself, and you use the store bought variety, it still beats the taste and quality you’d find in most pizza parlours. And not only that, it will make your home smell amazing too!

This pizza has crispy bits of bacon, caramelized red onions, and plenty of melted cheese interlaced with the kale. Paul never uses tomato sauce, and he likes to use gorgonzola, but if you don’t like gorgonzola, replace it with fontina, gruyere or any other cheese that melts easily.

Ingredients For Dough: (makes one large pizza, serves 4)

Paul has a very simple recipe which I can vouch for:
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
I tablespoon dry yeast
2.5 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of corn meal for sprinkling on the stone/baking tray

Method:
– Mix water, honey and yeast in a bowl
– Leave it for 5 minutes so that the yeast starts to work
– Add flour, salt and oil
– Work the dough well together
– Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature for about one hour

Method:
– Preheat the oven to 450 F / 230 C and place a pizza stone (if you have one) inside.
– if you don’t have a pizza stone, use an inverted baking tray/cookie sheet
– Put the onions, olive oil, and sugar into a pan over medium heat and cook,
stirring frequently, until the onions are wilted and brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Reduce the heat if the onions are browning too quickly. Set aside to cool a bit.
– In the same pan, cook the bacon until crispy (or to your liking).
– Remove and add to the onions. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat.
– Now place the kale in the same pan and cook until it wilts slightly, but not completely.
Add a few tablespoons of water and cover, if necessary.

– Roll out the dough, and place on the heated pizza stone* (it will be VERY HOT! PLease be careful!)
– *Sprinkle some corn meal on the stone/baking sheet to prevent sticking
– loosely place the bacon, onions and kale on the dough, making sure to get an even mix.
– sprinkle gorgonzola and mozzarella on top
– drizzle with olive oil
– place in oven and cook until cheese melts, about 12 to 15 minutes
– pull the pizza out, and let cool for 5 minutes.
– Sprinkle the chopped parsely on top, along with some course sea salt and black pepper
Cut the pizza up into as many slices as you like, and, for an added bonus, add half of a sliced
avocado. You won’t regret it!